Arizona men’s basketball goes 2-1 in Battle 4 Atlantis tournament

Melisa Guzeloglu

November 29, 2024

KJ Lewis navigates into the paint against Cooper Flagg at the University of Arizona’s home matchup against Duke in McKale Center on Nov. 22. Lewis tied Love for the worst +/- in the game.

The University of Arizona men’s basketball team (3-4) completed its first Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Nov. 27-29. The Wildcats have not competed in the tournament since 2017, leaving Paradise Island, Bahamas with only one win in the tree games.

Arizona began the tournament against Davidson College, where the Wildcats cruised to a 104-71 victory against a Davidson team that averaged 79 points as a whole this season. Following the victory, Arizona took on the University of Oklahoma, where the Wildcats fell 82-77, despite a 17-point night from Caleb Love against the Sooners. Arizona’s last opponent was West Virginia University, as the Wildcats forced an overtime, but failed to capitalize on a win as they lost 83-76.

Game 1: Arizona vs. Davidson

Anthony Dell’Orso led Arizona with 21 points, one assist and one rebounds on 5-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line. Five Wildcats, including three starters, finished the night scoring in double-digits.

Tobe Awaka tallied his third double-double of the season, completing the game with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Additionally, sophomore guard KJ Lewis grabbed 10 rebounds in the game. Arizona combined for 43 total bench points, holding Davidson to only 14. Love led second, closely following with 20 points, including three 3-pointers, five rebounds and four assists.

Love began the game with a turnover, as Arizona shortly fell to a 14-7 early lead Davidson built. Dell’Orso gave Arizona a 2-point lead after a successful jumper to force an opponent timeout. The Wildcats held a lead till the end of the first half, as Motiejus Krivas put Arizona ahead by 10-points following a layup on the fast break to lead 40-30.

Arizona led by as many as 14-points in the first period, going into halftime with a secure 49-37 advantage. Notably, Arizona shot a collective 58.82 percent in the first half.

Davidson attempted to respond, as Bobby Durkin made an early 3-pointer to cut the score to 49-40. The Wildcats continued to build their lead to 17-points after Love made a 3-pointer five minutes into the second half. Durkin made another 3-pointer to narrow the margin to just 6-points but Arizona’s defense put up six blocks to hold off Davidson. Ultimately, Arizona grew its lead to 104-71, gaining its first and only victory in the tournament.

Game 2: Arizona vs. Oklahoma

Despite four Wildcats scoring in double-figures, Oklahoma freshman Jeremiah Fears put up a season-high 26 points against Arizona in the semifinals. Love led the Wildcats with 17 points, three assists, five rebounds and two steals. Jaden Bradley led second with 16 points and shot 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

The Sooners gained an early 10-6 lead after a layup made by Luke Northweather. Arizona trailed the rest of the way as Fears shot a 3-pointer to gain a double-digit lead with 10:47 remaining in the first half. Dell’Orso hit a shot in the paint to cut the lead to 9-points. Soon after, Motiejus Krivas made a layup to get within 5-points of the score. Oklahoma held off Arizona, going into halftime leading 36-30.

Fears shot a 3-pointer almost five minutes into the second half to raise the lead back to 10. Love and Lewis responded with 3-pointers of their own, made within a minute of each other. Arizona continued to retaliate as Love scored a jumper, narrowing the lead to 3 with 11:35 remaining in the second half.

Northweather capped off a 5-2 scoring run the Sooners went on, continuing to create a 11-point gap to lead 68-57. Arizona got within 3-points of the score in the final minutes of the period, but the Wildcats shots didn’t fall as Oklahoma protected its lead to win 82-77.

Game 3: Arizona vs. West Virginia

Love led Arizona with 24 points on 9-for-20 shooting for the match. He also added on six rebounds, two assists and three steals. Trey Townsend put up 19 points, four rebounds and two assists. Bradley and Lewis added 10 points apiece. West Virginia was led by senior Tucker DeVries, who put up 26 points and shot 8-for-12 from 3-point range.

About eight minutes into the game, Love made a shot from beyond the arc to create an 18-10 lead for Arizona. The Mountaineers went on a 9-2 scoring run to take a 1-point lead over Arizona with under 10 minutes left in the first half.

West Virginia’s lead did not last for long, as Arizona built back up a 32-26 lead with a 3-pointer shot by Dell’Orso. Devries responded with a shot from beyond the arc for the Mountaineers, tying the game at 34. West Virginia went into the second half leading the Wildcats 39-37.

The two programs stayed close within distance of each other until KJ Tenner hit a jumper for West Virginia to extend the lead to 8-points. Despite Arizona outsourcing the Mountaineers in the second half, shooting 44 percent from the field, it wasn’t enough to take over the lead. Love made the game-tying 3-pointer to send the game into overtime at 66.

During overtime, West Virginian went a perfect 4-for-4 on its field goals, outsourcing Arizona 17-10. The Wildcats came within 4-points of the score, but it wasn’t enough for Arizona to close out the win, falling 83-76 to the Mountaineers. Notably, this was West Virginia’s third overtime game in three days.